Ms. Luker's intimate hour-long show to benefit TSC's education program will feature her Broadway and Jerome Kern songbooks as well as stories from her fabled 30-year career.

Rebecca Luker’s soaring voice has thrilled Broadway audiences for years. She has been nominated for Tony Awards for originating the role of Winifred in Mary Poppins and for revivals of The Music Man and Showboat. Ms. Luker originated the role of Lily in The Secret Garden, starred opposite Antonio Banderas in Nine, and has sparkled in numerous hit Broadway productions with her portrayals of the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, Maria in The Sound of Music, and Christine in The Phantom of the Opera.

Just this past month, Ms. Luker received glowing reviews for her work in the rumored-to-be-Broadway-bound musical, The Little Dancer.

"If you've been wondering who, if anyone, might be the heir to the great Barbara Cook, Ms. Luker . . . is the one." - The New York Times

News

Tennessee Shakespeare Company Kicks Off Fourth Year of Nationally-Recognized ROMEO AND JULIET PROJECT

27 Schools

44 Performances

342 Classroom Visits

4,360 High School Freshmen

(January 15, 2015) -- Tennessee Shakespeare Company has begun its nationally-recognized, four-part performance and in-school residency The Romeo and Juliet Project in the Memphis area this week, starting with Germantown High School and all of its 530 Freshmen.

The Project, now in its fourth year, brings a cast of eight professional actor-teachers into each Language Arts classroom at a participating school. Students are guided by the actors to live the play's urgent tragedy of young love amidst rage, experiencing its relevant story while ensuring that participating Freshmen have a first exposure to Shakespeare that is active, rich, and rewarding.

As the teenagers in the play face armed violence, students discover positive actions available to them in their own lives in the face of real conflict. The Residency concludes with an intimate performance by the actor-teachers of Romeo and Juliet, which encourages student participation.

By the end of March, The Romeo and Juliet Project will have performed the play 44 times in 27 Memphis area schools, and will have taught the Residency in 342 classroom visits in 11 schools. At least 4,360 high school Freshmen will be reached and positively affected by The Romeo and Juliet Project. That figure represents 34% of all Freshmen in the Shelby County Schools system.

Student post-Project assessments have recorded a 20% increase in students' compassion as a result of their inclusion in The Romeo and Juliet Project, as well as a full letter grade increase, on average, in Language Arts classes.

The National Endowment for the Arts and Arts Midwest Award Tennessee Shakespeare Company with Prestigious Shakespeare in American Communities Grant for Second Year

(Memphis, TN; July 7, 2014) – Arts Midwest has announced that Tennessee Shakespeare Company is one of just 40 theatre companies in the United States to receive its prestigious Shakespeare in American Communities grant for TSC's innovative Romeo and Juliet Project. This is the second consecutive year TSC has been awarded the grant as the youngest organization of the 40 theatres selected.

The grant is for $25,000, which TSC must match through private donations.